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by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
Translation © by Guy Laffaille
I wander thro' each charter'd street
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE
I wander thro' each charter'd street, Near where the charter'd Thames does flow And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every Man, In every Infant's cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forg'd manacles I hear. How the Chimney-sweeper's cry Every black'ning Church appalls, And the hapless Soldier's sigh Runs in blood down Palace walls. But most thro' midnight streets I hear How the youthful Harlot's curse Blasts the new-born Infant's tear And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
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Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "London", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 18, first published 1794 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by William Earl Averitt (b. 1948), "London", 1970 [ TBB chorus and piano ], from Two Songs of William Blake, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ronald A. Beckett , "London (1)", 2013 [ voice and piano ], from Eight Poems of William Blake, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ronald A. Beckett , "London (2)", 2013 [ voice and piano ], from Eight Poems of William Blake, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maximilian Beckschäfer (b. 1952), "London", 1978 [ voice and instrumental ensemble ], from Songs after William Blake, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Judith Bingham (b. 1952), "Mind forg'd", 1975 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "London", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, and orchestra ], from Songs of Experience, Volume Two, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "London", op. 74 no. 2, from Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Martin Butler (b. 1960), "London" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Charlton Crawford (b. 1931), "London", published 1965 [ bass and string quartet ], from Three Songs of Experience, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Jackson Cumming (b. 1928), "London", 1956 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Norman Curtis (b. 1933), "London", c1959 [ voice and piano ], from William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, no. 29 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "London", op. 27a no. 18 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 18 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Margo Lynn Greene (b. 1948), "London", 1972 [ mezzo-soprano and orchestra ], from Five Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Orchestra, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sergius Kagen (1909 - 1964), "London", published c1954 [ medium voice and piano ], NY : Mercury Music Corp. [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Thomas) Timothy Lenk (b. 1952), "London", c1977 [ tenor, bass-baritone, flute (piccolo), clarinet, bass clarinet, and violin ], from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William James Mathias (1934 - 1992), "London", op. 82 no. 9 (1979), published c1987, first performed 1979 [ mezzo-soprano, celesta, harp, piano, and strings ], from Songs of William Blake, no. 9, Oxford : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Geraldine Dorothy Rasmussen (b. 1925?6), "London", 1985 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Peter Schickele (b. 1935), "London", published c1968, from Baptism: A Journey through Our Time, NY : Fennario Music Publishers [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "London" [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 14 [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Van Vactor (b. 1906), "London", 1958, published 1970 [ voice and piano ], NY : Roger Rhodes Music [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "London", 1957, published 1958 [ voice and oboe ], from Ten Blake Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Londres", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 92
Londres
Language: French (Français) after the English
Je parcours chaque rue certifiée Près de l'endroit où la Tamise certifiée coule Et marque sur chaque visage que je rencontre Des marques de faiblesse, des marques de malheur. Dans chaque cri de chaque homme, Dans chaque cri de peur de chaque enfant, Dans chaque voix, dans chaque interdit, J'entends les menottes forgées par l'esprit. Comme le cri du ramoneur de cheminée Épouvante chaque église crasseuse Et le soupir du soldat infortuné Court en sang sur les murs du palais. Mais dans beaucoup de rues à minuit j'entends Comment la malédiction de la jeune prostituée Foudroie la larme de l'enfant nouveau-né Et saccage avec des tourments le corbillard du mariage.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2009 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "London", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 18, first published 1794
This text was added to the website: 2009-06-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 110